Can overweight/obesity and smoking have combined effects on bronchial hyperresponsiveness?

摘要

From the authors: We thank B. Sposato and M. Scalese for their comments on our paper on smoking and bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) [1], and we appreciate their interest for discussing the important, and complex, topic about determinants of BHR. Our paper was focused on the effects of smoking on BHR, a topic that has been under discussion for decades. Already in the very early, large scale, population studies, such as the Dutch Vlagtwedde-Vlaardingen Study [2], evidence was indicated concerning the effects of smoking on BHR. Our contribution was that, in a general population study setting, we could demonstrate a dose-dependent association of smoking on BHR. This effect remained after the adjustment of effects concerning the level of lung function variables and a number of possible confounders.